As expected, the two-time defending national champion Huskies were picked to win the American in the coaches' preseason poll. The real drama as the teams gathered at the New York Athletic Club for the annual media day Thursday was how the teams would shake out after UConn.

South Florida was second. The Bulls return 13 players from a team that advanced to the WNIT Final Four. USF was 23-13 last season, but the Bulls were not invited to the NCAA Tournament because their non-conference schedule was considered weak and they had no signature wins outside the American.

Within the conference, USF lost five regular season games and all were against the conference's best (UConn, Louisville and Rutgers). They nearly beat Louisville — an Elite Eight team — in the conference tournament semifinal.

"Last year was disappointing, not getting into the NCAA Tournament," coach Jose Fernandez said. "One thing that came back at us was what happened in December. I want to make sure that we put our kids in a position to play a tougher schedule, to get ready for league play but also to get as many opportunities for quality wins.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma talks about recruiting players and state of women's basketball at AAU/high school level during the AAC preseason media day on Thursday, Oct. 30, in New York.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma talks about recruiting players and state of women's basketball at AAU/high school level during the AAC preseason media day on Thursday, Oct. 30, in New York.

NEW YORK – On the way to a 40-0 record and its second straight national championship in women's basketball last season, UConn had its way in the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies were 18-0, winning by an average of 37.4 points.

This included two comparatively difficult games with Louisville,...

(JOHN ALTAVILLA)

That success, along with first-rate facilities, has helped recruiting even as it made the transition to a new conference. And Fernandez has a wide recruiting scope, with six international players on his roster.

"With us, it's a little different," Fernandez said. "We're established. We've had three kids drafted [by the WNBA] in the last five years. It's the same with Geno. Is the conference going to hurt Connecticut? No. What Geno's done speaks for itself. The conference is not going to hurt him. And it's not going to hurt us."

Early Blow For Cincy

In five seasons as head coach at Cincinnati, Jamelle Elliott has been trying to find some traction. The Bearcats are 62-90 under Elliott, with one .500 season (16-16 in 2011-12).

Last season, Cincinnati was 13-18. There was hope the team could take a step this season, but Elliott's team is searching for an identity. Senior guard Alyesha Lovett, the team's best returning player, injured her Achilles tendon and will miss the season.

Lovett (10.2 points, 4.5 rebounds) had surgery Wednesday. The Bearcats have had three practices without her and they're trying to figure out how to fill the void.

"It's still fairly new to everybody," Elliott said. "We all understand that we're never going to be able to replace her. Nobody can. But individually, they've challenged themselves to get better. Us as coaches, we have to come up with some pretty clever things to do despite not having our best ball-handler and best defender on the floor."

Lovett was named second-team all-conference because the voting by coaches was conducted before the injury. Cincinnati was picked eighth in the American.

Trophy Times Two

Media day began with an address from American commissioner Mike Aresco, who pointed out that thanks to UConn his conference had NCAA title trophies on the stage for both the men's and women's media day. Later, during a coaches' panel, Auriemma talked about how NCAA Tournament sites are selected and suggested the women's Final Four should perhaps be staged in the same site each year or at least rotated among a few venues. "Just because the guys do it one way, doesn't mean we need to do it that way," Auriemma said. "We need to get a little creative with how we do things and do what's best for women's basketball." … Another topic discussed by the coaches was quality of play in the both the men's and women's game. Auriemma said the game has become too physical. "We allow players to foul," Auriemma said. "Our officials are afraid to call fouls. And our coaches are afraid to coach in a way where you don't foul. So, how are you going to beat Connecticut? Well, we're going to foul the hell out of them. I've had coaches tell me this. We're going to be physical with them, knock them around, because that's the only chance we have. Well, that's kind of stupid. I've got like five or six [good] players … if two of them foul out, I've still got two more. [Other teams] probably have two really good players. If you foul them out, you've got nothing left. So the fouling hurts everybody."